Episode 30: P.A. Semi + AuthenTec

Topics covered include: 

• P.A. Semi’s original moniker ("Palo Alto Semiconductor”) and its celebrity founder (in the semiconductor world) Dan Dobberpuhl
• History of the back and forth tradeoffs between Intel’s powerful x86 chips and low power alternatives like ARM processors 
• Dobberpuhl’s technology breakthroughs throughout his career that enabled true low-power + high-performance chips
• The initial target markets for P.A. Semi’s chips (surprise: NOT mobile phones)
• P.A. Semi’s  first foray into a potential deal with Apple, dashed by Cupertino’s  surprise switch to Intel processors in 2005
• The rise of mobile finally creating the huge market need for low-power / high-performance, Apple’s acquisition of P.A., and launch of the first Apple-designed chip, the “A4”, with the original iPad in 2010
• Geekbench: the single-core performance of Apple’s latest generation of smartphone processors (A10 Fusion) has  basically caught up with Intel’s laptop CPUs
• AuthenTec’s beginnings in the late 90’s as a spinoff from the defense contractor Harris Corporation (named by Wired Magazine as the #2 threat to internet privacy in the US), based in Melbourne, Florida
•  Early versions of the technology that became TouchID, the sensors for which were many times larger than today’s iPhones themselves!
• AuthenTec “not very Apple-like” website on Archive.org (and screenshot)
• AuthenTec’s  deal that almost was to put their technology and sensors  into Samsung’s flagship phones 
•  Apple’s acquisition of AuthenTec for $356 million in July 2012, and the rapid introduction of TouchID in the iPhone 5S one year later in September 2013

Sponsors:

• WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
• Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra
• Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
• Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25

Followups: 

• Merging of Alaska & Virgin America loyalty programs (woo!)
•  Walmart announces major reorg following the Jet acquisition
• Snap Inc. IPO  drama is  mounting! (we can’t wait to cover this one)

  The Carve Out: 

• Ben: Rands in Repose: The Situation
• David: Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

More Acquired!

• Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
• Join the Slack
• Subscribe to ACQ2
• Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC